imustbebored
Regular Member
- Jul 4, 2013
- 233
- 302
Hello BHW, I'm Jon. I'm been browsing this forum for years, but never really took the time to get too involved with the community. I'd say that the majority of my time has been spent reading and not so much engaging. Today I plan to change that and be a more active member, so it only seems reasonable for me to formally introduce myself with a bit of a crazy story. Before I begin, here is an article on the verge for proof I'm not lying out of my ass:
https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/11/12153370/gochat-pokemon-go-chat-app-jonathan-zarra-interview
The summer Pokemon GO released was a crazy one for me. I had been accepted into the beta of the game and was one of the lucky few who had early access to it before the rest of the world. I noticed that the game offered no way for players to chat with one another, which seemed odd as it was a location based game. So I created a location based chat app which allowed players to communicate/coordinate with other players around them. I took to the subreddit /r/pokemongo to tell the other beta testers of the game about it. The response was great, I got a couple thousand installs in the following couple of days. The majority of beta testers were using the app to chat with other players around them.
Since the game wasn't out yet, there weren't too many Pokemon Go related apps out on the playstore or the appstore yet. Luckily for me, I rose in the ranks for the term "Pokemon Go", and managed to sit in the top #1 spot on both google and apple's appstores the day the game dropped.
Holy shit.
The download numbers that I saw made my jaw hit the floor. Here I was, some guy sitting in his apartment making some app he thought was cool, and overnight passing 1 million active users and my servers/bank account just couldn't keep up. I had news stations contacting me for interviews, major tech websites, investment opportunities, CRAZY buyout offers, you name it. Seriously, I spoke with the head of acquisition for Yahoo for hours. What the hell?!
I ended up going with an investment offer and incorporating as a company within a couple days of the app exploding in popularity. I got its servers back online and working well and within 2 weeks, received a buyout offer that I couldn't turn down. Part of me didn't want to sell, but I also figured the fad would slowly die out...and walking away then seemed like the right choice. I ended up selling the majority of my shares in the company and stepping down as CEO. Since all of that craziness, I've launched some other apps that have seen their share of success. I've been busy working with some other gaming websites, building apps for them. One of the more notable ones would be Bulbapedia (popular Pokemon site). I was fortunate enough for them to reach out to me and have them make it their official app. Their site brings in roughly 25-30 million pageviews a month. I've also just finished up another project, one that completely changes the mobile marketing game for everyone that will be rolled out in the very near future.
At the end of the day it was a crazy experience. I don't tell you this story to brag , but rather to show those on this forum who might be skeptical if what they read here can actually change their lives for the better. The short answer is: yes, but only if you are willing to put in the effort.
If you weren't one of the lucky ones born into a family of billionaires, you're going to have to work your ass off to get what you want. The one thing you CAN control is how much work you put into your projects, no one can take that away from you. The only way you will possibly beat everyone else out there trying to do the same god damn thing as you is to make sure you work 10x as hard as them.
TLDR: Much belated introductory post, hi BHW. Hard work pays off.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/11/12153370/gochat-pokemon-go-chat-app-jonathan-zarra-interview
The summer Pokemon GO released was a crazy one for me. I had been accepted into the beta of the game and was one of the lucky few who had early access to it before the rest of the world. I noticed that the game offered no way for players to chat with one another, which seemed odd as it was a location based game. So I created a location based chat app which allowed players to communicate/coordinate with other players around them. I took to the subreddit /r/pokemongo to tell the other beta testers of the game about it. The response was great, I got a couple thousand installs in the following couple of days. The majority of beta testers were using the app to chat with other players around them.
Since the game wasn't out yet, there weren't too many Pokemon Go related apps out on the playstore or the appstore yet. Luckily for me, I rose in the ranks for the term "Pokemon Go", and managed to sit in the top #1 spot on both google and apple's appstores the day the game dropped.
Holy shit.
The download numbers that I saw made my jaw hit the floor. Here I was, some guy sitting in his apartment making some app he thought was cool, and overnight passing 1 million active users and my servers/bank account just couldn't keep up. I had news stations contacting me for interviews, major tech websites, investment opportunities, CRAZY buyout offers, you name it. Seriously, I spoke with the head of acquisition for Yahoo for hours. What the hell?!
I ended up going with an investment offer and incorporating as a company within a couple days of the app exploding in popularity. I got its servers back online and working well and within 2 weeks, received a buyout offer that I couldn't turn down. Part of me didn't want to sell, but I also figured the fad would slowly die out...and walking away then seemed like the right choice. I ended up selling the majority of my shares in the company and stepping down as CEO. Since all of that craziness, I've launched some other apps that have seen their share of success. I've been busy working with some other gaming websites, building apps for them. One of the more notable ones would be Bulbapedia (popular Pokemon site). I was fortunate enough for them to reach out to me and have them make it their official app. Their site brings in roughly 25-30 million pageviews a month. I've also just finished up another project, one that completely changes the mobile marketing game for everyone that will be rolled out in the very near future.
At the end of the day it was a crazy experience. I don't tell you this story to brag , but rather to show those on this forum who might be skeptical if what they read here can actually change their lives for the better. The short answer is: yes, but only if you are willing to put in the effort.
If you weren't one of the lucky ones born into a family of billionaires, you're going to have to work your ass off to get what you want. The one thing you CAN control is how much work you put into your projects, no one can take that away from you. The only way you will possibly beat everyone else out there trying to do the same god damn thing as you is to make sure you work 10x as hard as them.
TLDR: Much belated introductory post, hi BHW. Hard work pays off.
Congratulations, stories like yours motivates the community. Looking forward to your next big project success
